


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

by Cosmic_Files



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Courage, F/M, Family, Flashback, Ice Cream, Love, Original Character - Freeform, Sad, Strength, gun - Freeform, heart breaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 04:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13380378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Files/pseuds/Cosmic_Files
Summary: This is about Danny dealing with the aftermath of C.J. being in the wrong place at the wrong time.





	Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, I do not own the characters. I hope that you all read this and enjoy it in some sense. This is chapter one of two. I promise to do some fluff after I write the second chapter. Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading this. This is written without a beta and without a second draft.

Danny stared at he nearly empty coffee cup that sat on the table in front of an empty chair.  There was still a couple sips of green tea left in there. He knew the tea was cold.  Hell, it was one day old.  One day.  That is how long it had been.  He stared out the window, watching as smiling faces walked past his house in the California sunshine.  He wanted to scream a fuck you to them.  He hated the world because it could move on without him.  This was not something that he ever wanted to consider as his world had come to a sudden stop.  He looked up as his teenaged daughter, Sigrid came down the stairs.  He felt his heart rip from his chest yet again.

She is an exact carbon copy of her Mom.  Fierce and strong without ever even trying.  He cleared his throat but couldn’t find the right words.  His phone lit up as a picture of Donna hugging Josh appeared on his screen.  He watched as his phone vibrated away from him.  It eventually stopped forty seconds later. He was too exhausted to talk to Donna again.  He knew she meant well, but he couldn’t listen to her right now. 

“I’m going to school today,” She mumbled as she smoothed out her plaid skirt.  She glanced at the calendar with her birthday marked in bright blue pen.  It was seven days away.  She glanced at her dad, seeing the way he wore his emotions on his sleeve.  It was something she could never do, and she felt anger burning in the pit of her stomach.

“Do you want me to drive you?” He quipped as he dumped his now cold cup of coffee down the drain, not quite looking at her.

“No, Gal is going to drive me,” She answered before leaving him in the stale kitchen. 

Danny stared at the sink.  He felt like a failure.  He didn't know how to talk to his daughter right now or even how to comfort her.  He felt himself grinning as a memory drifted up through his thoughts, breaking through his sadness.

 ***

_C.J.’s laugh echoed through the house as she set Gail down on the dining table, “Danny! What are you wearing? It’s ridiculous!” She laughed as she took in his clown wig and big red nose._

“ _C.J. it is almost Halloween and I picked out my costume! What do you think?” He grinned as he wiggled his eyebrows and ran his thumbs under his suspenders from his shoulders to his hips and back up to his shoulders before snapping them._

_“You are insane if you think I am dressing up as a clown!” She exclaimed through her laughter._

_He pouted as he walked closer to her, “Do you think I could convince you otherwise?” He whispered huskily as he planted a kiss on her neck._

_Hearing her laugh even more, turned him on.  He gently pinned her against the wall, kissing her with all the love he could muster up as his hands gripped her hips.  It would be five weeks later that he found out he would be a dad._

_***_

Danny shook his head clear as he heard hard knocks at his front door.  He glanced at the door before heading towards his front door, “Coming!” He called.  He felt his eyebrows shoot upwards as he laid his eyes on Jed and Abbey Bartlett.  Easily stepping back to let them in.

“We came as soon as we heard,” Abbey said before he could ask.  She hugged him hard, not releasing him until Jed cleared his throat.

“How are you and Sigrid holding up?” Jed questioned easily as he set down their bags next to the door.  The secret service took post at their front door as Danny was shutting the door.  Danny lead them in, as they sat down on the couches with a muted TV running. 

“Sigrid is like C.J.  I know she is hurting but she isn’t talking yet.” He said gently, avoiding eye contact with either of his guests.

“Danny, you didn’t answer my question fully,” Jed answered cautiously.

Danny swallowed hard and flicked off the television before sitting down on the coffee table in front of them, “She wanted ice cream.  Chocolate chip cookie dough.  Sigrid and C.J. had finished the carton together while they watched some Meg Ryan movie…Sleepless in Seattle I think.  Sigrid loves Meg Ryan.  Well, C.J. just had a damn severe hankering for some more.  I…I tried to uhm…convince her to stay and just look at the stars with, with me.  It was such a cool crisp night for once.  Sigrid was asleep…she just wanted some fucking ice cream!” Danny’s voice caught in his throat as Abbey gently squeezed his knee.  Danny coughed hard, trying to clear his throat. 

“Danny, you don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” Jed said softly.

Danny looked up at the bleary figure of his old friend.  He looked down, feeling the tears drip down his face as he heard footsteps lead away from him.  He felt Kleenex being pushed into hand.  He gave a bleak, but grateful smile to the ground as he blew his nose and wiped his eyes dry.  He felt his chest and lungs expand to a comfortable size as he took in a deep breath. 

He lost track of how long they had sat in a heavy silence as he felt Abbey gently squeezing his arm and rubbing his back soothingly.  He struggled to find his voice before he continued.

“I keep asking myself, if I had gone and not her, would she still be here? I know I shouldn’t blame myself but I just wish that I could go back in time to that moment and just convince her to let me go. It was late…almost Midnight I think when she finally left to go to the gas station for a pint to hold her over until a store would be open tomorrow.  I started getting worried when she didn’t return after fifteen minutes.  So, I got some shoes on and drove to the gas station I knew she would go to.  I didn’t see her broken down at along the way.” Danny paused, gratefully taking a long sip of water from the glass that had appeared next to him somehow.

“I felt as though the entire world had stopped as I saw the coroner’s van, unmoving ambulance, and yellow tape around that store.  C.J. was being herself.  Some guy…he didn’t….he didn’t know her. He didn’t know how good she is.  He…was-“ Danny’s voice caught again as he struggled to continue.  He finally looked up, seeing Abbey’s face full of sorrow as silent tears dripped down her cheeks.  He couldn’t even look at Jed.  He knew how Jed felt about C.J.

“He was tweaked out on something….and well, C.J. tried to talk him down.  But he killed her.  He shot her…she had been shot at two times in her life.  Who knew the third time would be the time she wouldn’t survive? The melting container of ice cream was inches from her fingers.”  He finally finished solemnly.  He wiped the tears away as he said nothing more.

“The news said that if she hadn’t have acted a pregnant mother would have been shot along with her child.  Jed responded, trying to remind himself that C.J. was too good for her own measure.

Danny nodded without saying anything as he looked at Abbey, wiping her own tears away, “You know…one time, back when she was press secretary, you had done something to piss her off.  I can’t remember, but I remember, she came storming into my office with a bottle of wine and we drank the entire bottle together.  It wasn’t a small bottle either, but my god, by the time we got to the end of that bottle she was giggling like a school girl over how much she loved you.  She was mad that you two had met under the circumstances that you had.  That was also when she told me how your kiss had done a number on her.  I will never forget that look on her face Danny.  She truly loved you and I want you to know that.  I knew she loved you the first time she talked about you.  Jed and I are going to stay and help you for a while.  We are booked at a hotel, and we will do whatever you need.”

“Nonsense.  I have a guest bedroom, you are more than welcome to stay here.” He said evenly as he finally looked up from the ground.  He had never known about that and now it would be another memory that haunted him.

“What’s next?” Jed questioned gently as he stood.

“The police should be done with her bod-….later today.  Then calling everyone that hasn’t possibly heard.” He said gently.

Jed nodded, “You stay where you are, I am going to make a cup of coffee and we will formulate our plan.” He said, secretly wishing that he was still president.  He would kill the guy with his own bare hands that had taken their C.J. away from them. 

Abbey cleared her throat before gently taking Danny’s hand, “How are you?” She asked softly. 

Danny looked up, feeling as though there were a thousand bags under his eyes.  He knew that not sleeping in the past 48 hours hadn’t helped his situations or all the memories that swam around in his head.  He knew he didn’t have to be strong right now, “Right now, memories are the worst form of torture.”


End file.
